The prospect of living in Zimbabwe is something of a risk at the moment, so you might think that there might be little affinity for supporting Zimbabwe’s casinos. In fact, it appears to be operating the other way, with the desperate market circumstances creating a higher desire to gamble, to try and find a fast win, a way out of the situation.
For the majority of the locals surviving on the tiny local wages, there are 2 dominant types of wagering, the national lotto and Zimbet. As with practically everywhere else on the globe, there is a national lotto where the chances of hitting are unbelievably tiny, but then the prizes are also surprisingly big. It’s been said by financial experts who study the subject that most don’t purchase a ticket with a real belief of winning. Zimbet is based on one of the domestic or the English football leagues and involves determining the results of future games.
Zimbabwe’s gambling halls, on the other foot, pander to the considerably rich of the state and vacationers. Up until recently, there was a exceptionally big vacationing industry, centered on safaris and trips to Victoria Falls. The economic woes and associated bloodshed have cut into this trade.
Among Zimbabwe’s casinos, there are 2 in the capital, Harare, the Carribea Bay Resort and Casino, which has 5 gaming tables and slot machines, and the Plumtree gambling den, which has only slot machines. The Zambesi Valley Hotel and Entertainment Center in Kariba also has just one armed bandits. Mutare contains the Monclair Hotel and Casino and the Leopard Rock Hotel and Casino, both of which offer table games, slots and electronic poker machines, and Victoria Falls has the Elephant Hills Hotel and Casino and the Makasa Sun Hotel and Casino, each of which have slot machines and blackjack, roulette, and craps tables.
In addition to Zimbabwe’s casinos and the previously mentioned lottery and Zimbet (which is considerably like a parimutuel betting system), there are a total of 2 horse racing tracks in the nation: the Matabeleland Turf Club in Bulawayo (the 2nd municipality) and the Borrowdale Park in Harare.
Since the market has contracted by beyond forty percent in the past few years and with the connected poverty and crime that has resulted, it is not known how healthy the sightseeing industry which supports Zimbabwe’s casinos will do in the near future. How many of the casinos will carry on till things improve is basically not known.
